I just received my BLI NYC Dreyfuss Hudson, a real beauty. I have the Walthers passenger set, but it is for the 1948 version, does not match the Hudson at all. I realize the Hudson is 1938 and I am thinking of the MTH set to match the loco. My question, is the set produced by MTH more prototypical as the cars seem to match the loco paint scheme. MTH shows the 1948 version as the same color as 1938, seems something is amiss here. Does anyone know of the correct scheme to match the Hudson? I am not set up to do any painting right now, so ready to run has to be the way for myself. I have been trying to find the Limited on-line, but not much as far as color or video is concerned. Thanks!
A little confused by your subject title. Does the Braodway Limited refer to BLI or the train? The Broadway Limited was the PRR train between New York and Chicago. The NYC train was the 2oth Century Limited.
When the 20th Century was streamlined in 1938, the cars were medium gray with a dark gray band going thru the window area. The medium gray and dark gray were separated by blue stripes, and there were two white stripes thru the dark gray window area. By 1940-41 the blue stripes were changed to white.
The streamlined J-3 Hudsons were painted medium gray with a dark gray band thru the tender to match the cars. The first E-7 passenger diesels NYC bought in 1945 were also painted to match the cars (except for one set which was black).
Around 1948, NYC reversed the colors - the cars became dark gray, with a medium gray band thru the window area. Passenger diesels were repainted to match the cars - by that time the Hudsons had lost their streamlining and were no longer used on the Century, and the Niagaras that sometimes pulled the train were not streamlined so were just black.
Since the Walthers Century is based on the 1950’s train, it has the later “reversed” paint scheme. The MTH engine and cars are in the earlier 1938 scheme. I don’t know if BLI is going to come out with matching cars for their Hudson or not.
You are correct!! I did screw up by putting Broadway Limited in the subject line. It was meant to be 20th Century limited of the NYC. I received the BLI loco yesterday and was checking the passenger cars available from MTH, they import the 1938 Century colors to match the loco. I already have an extensive collection of PRR equipment, tons of steam from Bowser and BLI, and I have pre-ordered the PRR Broadway Limited from two sources so far. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. Just before I posted the message, I finally heard from my son after three months. He is out of the field and will be traveling Thanksgiving Day back to the states. He should be home 6 Dec., my head just wasn’t fastend in place correctly, it has been a long hard year with my son in combat. I had better be careful with what I do! Thank you for all your replies.
The MTH cars are available with either the original 1938 paint scheme (i.e., with the blue stripes) or the “1940” scheme with all the stripes being white. The BLI engine is only available with the white stripes so you’d probably want to get the MTH 1940 white-stripe-only cars if you do order MTH cars. [:)]
